Pulling assemblies are commonly used to install fiber optic cable by pulling the fiber optic cable along a desired cable routing path. Often, the fiber optic cable is pulled through a conduit (e.g., a pipe, duct, plenum, riser, etc.) that may be indoor (e.g., in a building) or outdoor (e.g., above or below ground). In other applications, the fiber optic cable is pulled up a structure such as a radio tower with or without being routed through a conduit. Example cable pulling systems are disclosed at U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,993,237 and 5,863,083. Improvements in the area of strength, flexibility and the ability to traverse tortuous paths are desired.